Golden Valley Fire Department Seeks Recruits to Get EMT Certified More Quickly
Golden Valley native and current probationary firefighter Michael Inniger loves everything about the fire service.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to be a part of. You get to help your community, be a part of something that puts a lot of good into the world, and you get to work with a ton of passionate people who care about helping others,” said the 28-year-old Inniger, who will graduate from the fire academy in June.
He is already EMT-certified, unlike many recruits, but now the Golden Valley Fire Department is making sure that all those who go through the recruitment, training, and academy process towards potential employment with the city will be, too.
“Knowledge is power, it makes them more comfortable in the field, it makes them better able to serve our public, so that’s what we like to see with EMT,” said Assistant Chief Dominique Guzman.
Guzman said the department has changed around its training and probationary timelines to include EMT training.
“It makes more people in this area better able to join the fire service fully-certified,” Guzman said. “Most departments require EMT at a minimum to join as a full-time member.”
Chief Bethany Brunsell explained in an email: “Given that roughly 75% of our call volume is medical emergencies, it makes sense to us to provide that training first. With the previous way we did hiring/training, our new Firefighters had to wait until they’d been with us for almost a year before having the training and certification to respond on medical calls (which again, are over 75% of what we do).”
“People like to go into a situation feeling comfortable, and feeling like they know they can help the general public,” said Guzman, who joined the department in 2013 after nearly two decades as a teacher.
The department will hold another recruitment expo on Sunday, April 6 from 10:00 a.m. to Noon. The department will also host firefighter recruitment information sessions at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15.
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